Dubai Retail Lines Up Calendar Of ’Beat The Heat’ Events At The Walk @ JBR To Mark Dubai Summer Surprises

The Walk, a pioneering beachfront shopping avenue managed and developed by Dubai Retail, a subsidiary of Dubai Properties Group (DPG), today announced it has lined up a calendar of family-oriented activities and events at the Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) to mark Dubai Summer Surprise (DSS), the annual retail and entertainment extravaganza that attracts visitors from around the world to the emirate.

Scheduled to be held until 14 August, the ‘Beat the Heat’ events will bring Dubai Summer Surprises to the beaches of Dubai for the first time.

The beachfront retail avenue stretching over 1.7km at Jumeirah Beach Residence will host a multitude of entertaining events including water sports, football, volleyball fields, a floating island, inflatable slides, inflatable games and spa area. The area between the Hilton and Sheraton Hotel, opposite the main JBR parking lot at the heart of the beachside development will serve as the venue for the activities during the DSS extravaganza.

Haiyan Mujarkech, CEO of Dubai Retail said: “The Walk at JBR is an ideal venue to host family-oriented beachfront activities to mark DSS following the significant turnout earlier for Dubai Shopping Festival, the spectacular annual retail extravaganza. Offering attractive views of the Arabian Gulf, a great selection of shopping and dining options, The Walk will deliver an enhancing leisure experience.

“As a key industry player, Dubai Retail is keen to bring popular events such as Covent Garden Dubai, DSF, DSS, to The Walk, complementing its role as a destination that serves tourists and residents with its multitude of options.”

In addition to the entertainment, The Walk will also offer onsite refreshments, restaurants, and a relaxation zone with beach recliners, sun beds, beach tents, umbrellas, and other amenities for beach lovers.

Launched in August 2008, The Walk, boasts a total of 200 fashion, furniture and lifestyle stores, serving JBR residents as well as the entire marina district. It is set to unveil a series of spas and beach clubs, accentuating the development’s round the year beach resort offering, making Jumeirah Beach Residence one of the most luxurious developments in the region.

In its profound commitment to delivering innovative and pioneering concepts in the retail sector, Dubai Retail continues to bring renowned brands to its properties within the emirate. With over five million square feet currently under development, Dubai Retail is set to become one of the largest and the most prominent retail solutions provider in the Middle East in the near future.

The Dubai Mall hosts 3 million visitors over month-long shopping festival

The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination, hosted three million visitors over the one-month long shopping and entertainment extravaganza, which concludes today (Friday, May 29, 2009). Festival@The Dubai Mall attracted more than 750,000 visitors every week, strengthening sales across the mall’s 900 retail and F&B outlets.Marking the formal opening of the mall by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the Festival@The Dubai Mall offered a diverse bouquet of bargain deals on global brands, ’Win Millions’ raffles, Bid 2 Win auctions for premium products, a Grand Bentley draw and mall-wide entertainment. One of the spectacular attractions during the festival was the unveiling of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain.Today (May 29, 2009), one lucky winner will get AED 1 million in cash prize at the ’Win Millions’ raffle. The Grand Bentley draw for the luxurious, four-door Bentley Continental Flying Spur will also be held, adding to the prize bonanzas offered on the final day. The mall will come alive to a spectacular display of entertainment as several performers come together for a grand finale. Apart from daily entertainment programmes, the mall has also hosted more than 100 fashion shows during the festival at the newly inaugurated Fashion Catwalk at the Fashion Avenue.Mr Nasser Rafi, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: "We have achieved the objectives of hosting the Festival@The Dubai Mall, which were to enhance visitors and strengthen sales at our retail outlets. To draw over 3 million visitors in one month is a testament to the success of the mall as well as the city’s global reputation as a premier tourist destination."He added: "The Festival@The Dubai Mall has been a confidence booster for the economy, and offered customers a perfect continuum of shopping and entertainment spectacles from Dubai Shopping Festival to the Dubai Summer Surprises, which will start shortly. We are thankful to all our partners for their support, particularly to the Dubai Shopping Festival Office."With a total cash prize of AED 3.1 million apart, The Festival@The Dubai Mall has set a new benchmark in mall-wide entertainment with the spectacular array of leisure attractions. The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, a popular attraction at the mall, introduced Shark Dives for the adventurous, offering the opportunity to dive into the 11 metre deep aquarium and surf the waters with sand tiger sharks and rays. The Olympic-sized Dubai Ice Rink introduced ’Disco on Ice’ with an in-house DJ belting out popular music and the Fashion Catwalk was abuzz with haute couture events.The Festival@The Dubai Mall is supported by Dubai Media Inc, Arab Media Group and The Address Hotels + Resorts, a part of Emaar Hospitality Group.

UAE Nationals dominate The Dubai Mall raffle winners

The ‘Win Millions’ raffle at Festival @ The Dubai Mall has a clear domination by UAE Nationals, who have won 40 daily raffles for AED 10,000 each and one weekly draw for AED 100,000 with only two days remaining for the shopping and entertainment extravaganza to conclude.Three expatriates – an Iranian, South African and Pakistani each – also won AED 100,000 each at the weekly draws. The Iranian expatriate, Mr Kaveh Oyar Hosseini also got AED 50,000 as bonus prize money for being present in the mall during the draw. The grand draw for AED 1 million will be held on the closing day of the Festival on Friday (May 29, 2009). Mr Nasser Rafi, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: “The winner profile of Festival @ The Dubai Mall highlights the cosmopolitan character of Dubai. Apart from the UAE nationals, the daily winners of over 100 customers at the mall include nationals from the Middle East, Europe, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, CIS countries and USA.” He added: “The multi-cultural profile of winners also highlights the appeal of The Dubai Mall to people of all nationalities, several of them tourists. The chief draw of the mall as a shopping destination is the diversity of choices it offers, with over 900 outlets including several flagship and Middle East debuts of the world’s leading brands.” To participate in the Win Millions raffles, customers only have to spend AED 500 at any of the retail and/or F&B outlets. They also get bargain deals from participating outlets. The month-long Festival @ The Dubai Mall, also featuring a Grand Bentley raffle and mall-wide entertainment, will conclude on May 29. It is supported by Dubai Media Inc, Arab Media Group and The Address Hotels + Resorts, a part of Emaar Hospitality Group.

Final day prize bonanza at Festival@The Dubai Mall: AED 1 million and Bentley car up for grabs

One lucky shopper will win the grand prize of AED 1 million on Friday (May 29, 2009) as Festival @The Dubai Mall, the month long shopping and entertainment extravaganza at the world’s largest shopping and leisure destination, draws to a close.The Grand Bentley raffle draw for a luxurious, four-door Bentley Continental Flying Spur will also be held on May 29, adding to the excitement of the closing day celebration. Several entertainers will join in the mall-wide entertainment in a fitting grand finale of the family festival that has attracted thousands of visitors over four weeks. Mr Nasser Rafi, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: “The Festival@The Dubai Mall is one of the most unique mall-wide retail promotion events ever undertaken in Dubai. The total cash prize package of AED 3.1 million adds to the excitement of shopping with visitors having the extensive choice of 900 retail stores including 160 F&B outlets.” He added: “The closing day will be a bonanza with two grand draws – one for AED 1 million in the Win Millions raffle, and the other for the Bentley car. Two lucky winners will join over 100 lucky customers, who have already won cash prizes ranging from AED 10,000 to AED 150,000.” Visitors to The Dubai Mall can enter the ‘Win Millions’ raffle for the AED 1 million draw and a daily draw of AED 10,000 on Thursday, by spending a total of AED 500 in any of the retail and/or F&B outlet, while also availing of bargain deals from the participating outlets. They can collect the raffle coupons from the customer service desks. Raffle coupons for the Grand Bentley draw are sold out. Only 5,000 tickets, each priced AED 200, were on sale to win the coveted Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Ticket-holders also have access to the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo walk-through tunnel for closer encounters with the 33,000 aquatic animals. The Festival@The Dubai Mall also featured Bid 2 Win, an innovative auction for premium products; bargain deals on various global brands and mall-wide entertainment. It is supported by Dubai Media Inc, Arab Media Group and The Address Hotels + Resorts, a part of Emaar Hospitality Group.

Grand Bentley Raffle Draw On Closing Day Of Festival@The Dubai Mall

The much-awaited Grand Bentley raffle draw will be held on the closing day of the Festival@The Dubai Mall on May 29, 2009. The Grand Bentley draw is one of the key attractions of the month-long shopping and entertainment extravaganza at the mall.

Only 5,000 tickets, each priced AED 200, were offered for sale for the Grand Bentley raffle. The lucky winner will get a luxurious, four-door Bentley Continental Flying Spur, which is currently displayed in the mall. Winners can also opt for a buy-back guarantee on the car.

Mr Nasser Rafi, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: “The Grand Bentley raffle was one of the talking point events of the Festival@The Dubai Mall. With all 5,000 tickets already sold out, we will host the draw on the closing day of the festival.”

He added: “The Festival@The Dubai Mall has been a strong crowd-puller to the mall drawing over 750,000 people every week. The various opportunities to win millions of dirhams apart from the Bentley further added to visitor appeal.”

The Grand Bentley raffle ticket also offered the free access for ticket-holders to The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo walk-through tunnel for closer encounters with the 33,000 aquatic animals.

Mr Bob Ferguson, a Scottish visitor to the UAE, is looking forward to the results of the Grand Bentley raffle. “I bought the raffle coupon as a birthday gift for my friend. I have not won at raffles but I believe that my friend, who lives here, will be lucky and get to take home the Bentley.”

A self-confessed luxury-car enthusiast and Egyptian expatriate resident in Dubai, Mr Sami Elgabri has also entered the raffle on behalf of his friend. “The Bentley Continental Flying Spur is a dream car, and all its aspects are perfectly finished. It will make a perfect car to own,” he said.

The Festival@The Dubai Mall also features Bid 2 Win, an innovative auction for premium products; bargain deals on various global brands and mall-wide entertainment. It is supported by Dubai Media Inc, Arab Media Group and The Address Hotels + Resorts, a part of Emaar Hospitality Group.

More Retail Therapy Is AED 1 Million Wish-List Of Shoppers

With only 10 days to go for the grand draw for AED 1 million, marking the grand finale of Festival@The Dubai Mall, visitors are flocking to the mall to enter the Win Millions raffle. By 29 May, a total of AED 3.1 million worth in prize money would have been won by shoppers during the month-long retail and entertainment extravaganza.

Since the festival began, over 90 lucky shoppers, from 24 different countries have won prizes ranging from AED 10,000 to AED 150,000. The Middle East, Europe, USA and Asia have all been represented, with UAE Nationals being the most frequent winners.

Shoppers are excited about the prospect of winning AED 1 million, and most of them have more retail spend on their wish-list if they happen to win the grand prize.

Palestinian National Ali Yasin, 26, would love to buy a sail boat. “I would also like to travel the world especially to South America for the culture, Africa for the nature and Antarctica for the nothingness that exists there. The idea of traveling or sailing into nothing is very appealing. And if I still have any remaining money I would buy all sorts of gifts for my family.”

Lebanese Bride-to-be, Amal Fayad, 24, said: “Oh, I would buy so many things with a million dirhams right now. First I would throw a bigger wedding in Lebanon, buy more clothes, and travel to more destinations for my honeymoon and of course I would save more money for our future life together.”

Saqib Iqbal, a stock broker from Los Angeles who was on vacation in Dubai said: “I would invest all the money is stocks because now is the time when you can buy cheap and then can sell at a higher price.”

On the festivities at The Dubai Mall he said, “It is awesome. The mall is huge and so much bigger than what we have in LA. I would come again to Dubai…definitely.”

Launched on April 30, 2009, Festival@The Dubai Mall is a month-long retail extravaganza with bargain deals, raffle draws and colourful entertainment regaling visitors. Customers spending an aggregate amount of AED 500 at the retail and F&B outlets over the festival period can collect raffle coupons to participate in the Win Millions draw.

In addition to five daily draws for AED 10,000, a weekly draw for AED 100,000 is held every Saturday with the winners standing to gain a bonus of AED 50,000 if they are present at the mall during the draw. The final draw will be held on May 29, at 10pm, where one lucky winner will win AED 1 million.

Festival@The Dubai Mall is supported by Dubai Media Inc, Arab Media Group and The Address Hotels + Resorts, Emaar Hospitality Group’s five star hotel brand.

’The Jumpers’ From Poland Delight Festival Visitors At The Dubai Mall

It is about skills, dexterity and abundant energy. Add to it a riot of colours and a special stilt suit, and you get The Jumpers from Poland.These acrobats from Poland will regale visitors to the Festival@The Dubai Mall until May 10, 2009, with a colourfully synchronised group-act that takes them around the mall, entertaining little ones and adults alike.The Jumpers, a team of six acrobats, wear costumes with special stilts that have curved springs attached to the base. When the actors press the feet down, they harness an incredible amount of energy that enables them to jump to incredible heights and run with huge strides at amazing speeds.The show is directed by Celina Miklaszewski and Marco Fraschetti. The act looks deceptively simple, especially with the cheerful expressions that the artists wear.Lukasz Zielinski, a senior actor and choreographer of the show, says: “It is necessary to train at least three hours a day to perform this show. The physical pressure and difficulty of running for a long time demands a healthy body and concentration. We must also be able to act and smile at the same time. But we enjoy it because the enthusiasm the show creates is infectious.”The costumes and the show are related to the Italian ‘Commedia dell’ arte’ concept thus bringing a Venetian carnival atmosphere. The Jumpers make their sudden appearance from the various aisles and walkways of the mall, springing a pleasant surprise on visitors.Children love The Jumpers. Amina, a five-year-old, who accompanied her parents to the mall, was awed by their act. “She was insisting on following them around the mall,” said her mother, a Jordanian expatriate.The Jumpers are only one of many non-stop entertainment acts at the mall during the month-long shopping and entertainment extravaganza to be held until May 29, 2009.Visitors can also look forward to spectacular shopping deals, daily raffle draws and a Grand Bentley draw. Watching the testing of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain, is another great leisure opportunity.
 

Bargain Deals, Raffle Draws And Colourful Shows Mark Spectacular Start Of Festival@The Dubai Mall

Hundreds of bargain deals on the world’s most coveted brands, five daily raffle draws and colourful roaming entertainment marked the spectacular start of the Festival@The Dubai Mall on Thursday. The festival is the world’s largest in-mall retail shopping and entertainment extravaganza bringing together over 900 retail stores including 160 F&B outlets, that will run through to May 29, 2009.Mr Nasser Rafi, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: “Visitor response to the Festival@The Dubai Mall on the opening day was beyond our expectations. We have lined up an array of exciting shopping deals and leisure attractions, true to the theme of the festival – ’30 Days, Many Ways.’ There will be novel attractions every day, adding to the surprise factor for visitors, and encouraging them to return to the mall.”Organised in collaboration the Dubai Shopping Festival Office, the Festival@The Dubai Mall featured several entertainment attractions on the opening day, including mime acts, jugglers, ribbon dancers, and a colorful festival carnival. The Dubai Ice-Rink hosted special skating displays, while shoppers were treated to the colorful spectacle of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain that is currently being tested.The Grand Bentley raffle, a key attraction of the festival, drew a strong response with several hundred tickets being sold on the opening. There are only 5,000 tickets on offer, each priced at AED 200, to win a luxurious, four-door Bentley Continental Flying Spur. The raffles are available at all 18 Customer Care outlets and four special Bentley Raffle Kiosks located across the mall.Festival@The Dubai Mall is also offering a total prize money of AED 3.1 million during the 30-day period. On the opening day, five raffle draws were held at 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm and 10pm; and lucky winners were presented AED 10,000 each. The Dubai Mall visitors can get raffle coupons for an aggregate purchase worth AED 500 from any of the participating outlets including the food court.On Saturday, a draw for AED 100,000 will be held at the mall, with the winner standing to gain another AED 50,000 if they are present at the mall during the draw. The draw for the grand prize of AED 1 million will be held at the end of the festival.The first ‘Bid 2 Win,’ a live auction to win a range of products, will be held on Friday for an Apple Combo, priced at AED 14,498. Visitors only have to check the product code from the display at the mall and SMS it to 4643 after registering for the bid at the same number. Bids will start at AED 1 and will continue till 9pm, with bidders being informed of the status of the bid in real-time. Live updates of the auction will also be displayed in the multimedia screens across the mall.Festival@The Dubai Mall is supported by Dubai Media Inc, Arab Media Group and The Address Hotels + Resorts, a part of the Emaar Hospitality Group.